NEW YORK — Yankees manager Joe Girardi pushed back his club’s mandatory report time to Yankee Stadium back later than usual for a 7:05 p.m. scheduled start Tuesday afternoon. He also canceled batting practice. The previous two nights were long, he reasoned, and produced excruciating losses.

“If we can't hit BP, we're in trouble,” Girardi joked.

But the measures were also subtle acknowledgements of his aged offense’s composition and failures. As they traverse through the grueling summer schedule, they do not employ a regular under the age of 30. They had scored nine runs during their three-game losing streak and David Price, a staunch test, awaited Tuesday night for perhaps the final time in a Rays uniform. Any extra rest, Girardi suspected, would not hurt.

Price, for now, is the last-place Rays’ ace. He is rumored to be available on the trade market and is one of the sport’s prized commodities leading up to the July 31 non-waive trade deadline, a top-notch starting pitcher in his prime. He proved why on a balmy Tuesday night as the Yankees could not vindicate Girardi’s strategy and were left unable to explain another punchless performance again in a 2-1 loss.

“Got to get it done,” Girardi said. “That’s it. I mean, you got to get it done so there’s not much more you can say.”

Price, peaking as trade talks sizzle, stifled the anemic Yankees lineup over seven innings. The left-hander (7-7, 3.50 ERA) yielded one run on four hits and three walks. As an example of his recent overpowering ways, he (only) struck out nine batters to snap his five-start streak of double-digit strikeouts.

“He was dealing,” Yankees designated hitter Carlos Beltrán said.

Brett Gardner walked to lead off the first inning for the Yankees, but Price did not surrender another baserunner through three innings. Kuroda wasn’t as efficient — he surrendered singles in each of the first two innings — but he also kept the Rays (37-49) off the board for the first third of the contest.

Then both offenses broke through in the fourth frame. First, the Rays registered the night’s initial run on Logan Forsythe’s RBI single, which drove in Matt Joyce who had begun the inning with a single. With runners on first and second and one out, the Rays were on the cusp of adding tallying more, but Kuroda escaped the jam.

The Yankees offense responded immediately. On the tenth anniversary of his signature catch diving into the stands against the Red Sox, Derek Jeter jumpstarted the bottom half of the inning with a double to straightaway center field, capitalizing on the Rays’ aggressive outfield shift. It was the shortstop’s 434th career double, tying him for first on the Yankees’ all-time list with Lou Gehrig.

Jeter then advanced to third base on Jacoby Ellsbury’s single and scored in peculiar fashion. Price caught Ellsbury trying to steal second base with a slick pickoff move and initiated a rundown. First baseman James Loney threw to shortstop Ben Zobrist who quickly looked over at Jeter drifting off third base before firing a throw to Loney off one foot. But the throw hit Ellsbury and bounced away, allowing Jeter to score and Ellsbury to advance to second base.

The 1-1 draw was snapped with a mammoth display of power. Leading off the sixth inning, Loney pounced on the first pitch Kuroda offered — a 75-mph curveball — and swatted it over the wall in right-center field for his fifth home run of the season.

Like the fourth inning, Jeter led off the bottom half of the frame after the Rays tally and ignited a scoring threat. The impending retiree slashed a single to center field and stole second base. But he was left stranded there as the meat of the Yankees lineup failed to produce another run yet again.

“You got to find a way to get him over and get him in,” Girardi said. “Someone has to come up with a big hit,.I know you’re facing a good pitcher and it’s not easy at-bats, but we weren’t able to do it.”

In hindsight, the domination was predictable. The Yankees (41-41) have now scored 10 runs over their last 49 innings. The drought has produced a season-worst four-game losing streak and plunged the club back to .500 for the first time since June 9.

Derek Jeter went 2-for-4 and produced the Yankees’ only extra-base hit, a double off Price in the fourth inning. It was Jeter’s 434th career double, tying Lou Gehrig for first-place on the Yankees’ all-time list.

The rest of the Yankees lineup, however, went 3-for-27 with five walks. In all, they combined to leave 15 runners on base and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Fittingly, Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long was ejected in the sixth inning, presumably for arguing balls and strikes.

“It’s frustrating,” Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner said. “Our goal is come out here and get hits and score runs. We got to win games and we obviously haven’t been doing that. Today was the first day of the second half and it’s definitely passed time for us to pick things up.”

The offense’s continued failure spoiled Hiroki Kuroda’s commendable performance. With an overtaxed Yankees bullpen behind him, Kuroda (5-6, 4.08 ERA) tussled through eight innings, scattering nine hits but surrendering just two runs. He accumulated seven strikeouts to one walk in his longest outing of the season.

“Outstanding performance,” Girardi surmised.

It was not supposed to be like this. The Yankees spent the winter spending money, nearly $500 million by the time they reported for spring training, and most was spent on the offense. They let Robinson Canó leave, but replaced him with Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Beltrán. The additions combined with the returns of Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Alfonso Soriano was expected to create a formula for scoring runs in bunches. Instead, the offense is floundering and the club is middling.

“It’s more surprising, for sure, because of the names that you’re writing in the lineup card,” Girardi admitted.

Most of the talent on the roster, however, is older and age leads to decline. Girardi, however, dismissed the notion that his veteran stars cannot regain the form that fueled outstanding careers.

“I don’t think you forget how to hit in a year,” Girardi declared.

For all the Yankees’ troubles, they still are just three games behind the first-place Blue Jays in the American League East. The mediocre division has granted the Yankees plenty of time to regroup. They have maintained past performance will resurface and results will follow in time. For now, the wait continues.

“These guys have proven track records,” Girardi said. “These are the guys that we have and these are the guys that have to get it done on a nightly basis. No one is going to feel sorry for you and no one has a magic potion. You just have to go out and grind it out.”